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Labneh

Labneh is essentially yoghurt which has been strained to remove its whey, resulting in a thick consistency, while preserving the yogurt’s distinctive, sour taste. There’s a few different stages you can take a labneh, from a softer more dip-like consistency to a rather firm, spreadable consistency – both are delicious and can be used in so many ways.

Normally, I fork out a small fortune to buy labneh from my local delicatessen…thinking it was being expertly crafted and surely not something I could make at home for myself. Well, until now. In fact, labneh is so easy to make I will never buy it again.

All you need is cheesecloth (available from good kitchen stores) and some good quality Greek yoghurt – and the better quality the yoghurt, the better tasting the labneh (also use full fat). The only real point to considered when making labneh is the time it will take you.

As a general rule of thumb:

8-12 hours = soft, smooth and tangy spread, which you can use as a dip

24-36 hours = a thicker, firmer labneh, with the consistency of cream cheese (great to spread onto flat bread with falafel and salad for an wonderful mid-week meal)

48-72 hours = it will transform into yoghurt cheese, which can be rolled into small balls and stored in olive oil to be served as part of a cheese platter or on an antipasto type spread (I did this to half of my mixture and flavoured the oil with garlic and dried chilli)